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Bios

Short Bio

Marv Penner is the National Director of Youth Specialties Canada and an associate staff member of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (www.cpyu.org). He is an internationally known author, professor, speaker, and youth ministry veteran having spent nearly 40 years working with students and families. Marv oversees the Canadian Centre for Adolescent Research, a think tank that conducts research on Canadian youth and youth culture. He received his M.A. in Marriage and Family Counseling from Grace Seminary and his D. Phil degree from Oxford Graduate School.

Full Bio

Marv Penner is the National Director of Youth Specialties Canada and an associate staff member of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (www.cpyu.org). He is an internationally known author, professor, speaker, and youth ministry veteran having spent nearly 40 years working with students and families. Marv oversees the Canadian Centre for Adolescent Research, a think tank that conducts research on Canadian youth and youth culture. He recently co-directed a major national study, What’s Happening? The State of Youth Ministry in Canada. He has trained and inspired thousands of youth workers at various national and international youth workers conferences and conventions and has taught at more than 20 colleges and seminaries around the globe. He is the author of six books on youth ministry including The Youth Workers Guide to Parent Ministry, My Kids Are Hurting, Hope and Healing for Kids Who Cut, and most recently, Building and Mobilizing Teams. In addition to his teaching, speaking, and writing, Marv is a marriage and family counselor specializing in parent/adolescent conflict resolution, sexual abuse recovery, self-injury, eating disorders, and marriage and family issues. He received his M.A. in Marriage and Family Counseling from Grace Seminary and his D. Phil degree from Oxford Graduate School. In his spare time Marv enjoys canoeing and kayaking, outdoor photography, woodworking, wilderness camping, and motorcycle touring. Over the course of his life Marv has had some crazy jobs including being a Brinks armored car guard, a waterski instructor, an undercover private investigator, and a professional firefighter. Life is more predictable these days. Marv and his wife, Lois, live in Lake Country, British Columbia where their organization, All About Youth (www.allaboutyouth.ca) is headquartered. They have three awesome adult kids who have each married equally awesome spouses…and grandchildren have begun to arrive.